State Briefs 6/30/09

Tuesday

GALESBURG — AmerenIP hopes to begin a massive environmental cleanup at the former site of McCabe Scrap Iron & Materials Co. by September or October.

Galesburg Gas Light & Coke Co. produced gas beginning in 1861 at the 3-acre site, with coal tar as a waste product.

Brett Carney of Environmental Resources Management of Springfield, which was hired by Ameren to determine the extent of the pollution at the site, has completed his work, including soil testing and checking for ground-water contamination. He said the first three feet of contamination consisted of metals and fuel oil from the scrap iron operation. Carney said there are fuel residuals, which he described as an "oily mixture," from the manufactured gas plant.

Although AmerenIP never owned or operated the Galesburg manufactured gas plant, it is responsible for making sure the site meets current environmental standards relating to contamination. The company is voluntarily conducting the site investigation under the Site Remediation Program of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. AmerenIP will perform the work as part of its agreement with current site owners and the IEPA.

Koty A. Cook, 17, was pulled from the water and taken to Taylorville Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police and firefighters were sent to the lake about 4:35 p.m. after receiving reports of a possible drowning. Witnesses said Cook and another boy swam beyond the roped-off area at the beach. Upon returning toward the beach Cook began to struggle and went underwater. Other swimmers tried to help him but they were unsuccessful, police said.

State Journal-Register

Sheriff’s office rejects claims against deputy

SPRINGFIELD – The Sangamon County sheriff’s office has rejected a complaint by a woman who says a deputy took sexual liberties with her while she was in an alcoholic stupor early Jan. 1.

In failing to substantiate Sherri Janssen’s complaint, the sheriff’s office said it wasn’t able to prove or disprove the allegation. Rather, investigators weren’t able to show that the preponderance of evidence demonstrates that Janssen is telling the truth when she says a deputy performed sexual acts on her while she was too intoxicated to give consent.

Chief deputy Jack Campbell said he couldn’t comment on any aspect of the investigation, which was reviewed by an unnamed outside law enforcement agency, according to a June 19 letter to Janssen informing her that her complaint was unsubstantiated. Campbell declined to name the law enforcement agency that reviewed the internal investigation.

Janssen called 911 after she woke up and couldn’t locate her ex-husband, with whom she had been drinking.

She says she remembers looking for him with the deputy, and she remembers waking up from a blackout and finding herself engaged in a sexual act with the officer. She says she realizes she hadn’t imagined the incident when she received the voice mail and text message.

State Journal-Register

Fish kill total in Rock River believed to exceed 72,000

ROCKFORD – Biologists believe more than 72,000 fish were killed in the Rock River starting June 21, making the fish kill one of the worst in Illinois history.

According to preliminary data released Tuesday by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, nearly 37,000 game fish were killed, including catfish, smallmouth bass and walleye. More than 34,000 commercial fish, including buffalo and carp, also were killed. The value of the dead fish is estimated at $272,000.

The fish kill was discovered two miles north of Grand Detour and ended nearly 50 miles downstream near Prophetstown. Reports of dead fish surfacing were received even farther downstream in the Quad Cities, where the Rock River meets the Mississippi River.

The first dead fish were found less than two days after a train derailed in Rockford, releasing 55,000 to 75,000 gallons of ethanol. Officials believe an unknown amount spilled into a nearby creek which feeds into the Kishwaukee River, which in turn drains into the Rock River. However, tests of the water and dead fish have thus far proven no link between the derailment and the fish kill.

Rockford Register Star

Man accused in eight murders asks for change of venue

GALESBURG – Attorneys for a Sterling man accused of killing eight people in two states filed a 20-page motion to move the trial because of pre-trial publicity.

The motion, filed Monday — one year after Ronald Randall of Galesburg was bludgeoned to death — details the results of a phone survey of potential jurors in Knox County conducted June 2, 2009. Of the 3,061 calls answered by humans as opposed to answering or fax machines, 850 individuals participated in the survey.

Of those, 87 percent of people who answered the question regarding Nicholas Sheley’s guilt or innocence, believed he is probably guilty. Only 2 out of 575 of those polled, or .3 percent, believed he is probably innocent.

Sheleys’ attorneys argue their client cannot receive a fair trial in Knox County because of the amount and nature of pretrial publicity in the case.

Sheley is in the Knox County jail on a $10 million bond awaiting a trial on charges he bludgeoned Randall to death, stole his truck then dumped his body behind a dumpster at Hy-Vee on Main Street. Sheley also is charged in the deaths of five people in Illinois and two in Missouri in late June 2008.

On May 12, Sheley also was indicted on several battery charges after he assaulted correctional officers at the jail. His bond is $500,000 in that case.

Galesburg Register-Mail

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.